The invention relates to a tiltable metallurgical vessel, in particular a converter to be used in a steel making plant, having a fixed bearing and an expansion bearing for the carrying trunnions, wherein the bearing housing is arranged on force measuring means resting on the supporting construction and is guided in vertical guides whose lateral dimension extends parallel to the trunnion axis.
In more recently developed metal production processes, in particular in steel making processes, the weight changes of the materials charged in the vessel are used for controlling the production process. For monitoring the process, curves of the changes of the weight of the bath are plotted. From the paths of these curves conclusions can be drawn on the carbon content of the melt, the temperature of the bath and the tendency towards slopping. Thus, during a heat, a precise weighing of the materials charged and the fluxing agents is of great importance.
For carrying out such a weighing it has been known to mount the bearing housings directly, or via bridges, on force measuring means. It is a pre-requisite for an exact weighing that only vertical forces act on the force measuring means, since transverse forces falsify the measuring result or make it inaccurate. For this reason, care must be taken that the transverse forces are accommodated by separate construction elements. Thus, for instance, the bearing housings of the carrying trunnions have been guided in the vertical direction by rollers in a force-measuring-means-containing recess of the support. (British Pat. No. 1,373,652). In another arrangement an intermediate plate having a thickness of between 25 and 60 mm has been arranged between the bearing housing and the supporting construction, which plate has accommodated all the forces of the expansion bearing displacement, the skull pushing and the converter operation. Furthermore it has been known to hinge the bearing housings or bridges resting on the force measuring means, to the supporting construction by guide rods or tension members arranged in horizontal direction.
The known arrangements, in particular those having horizontal guide rods, are complicated structures and require a lot of space, so that it is very difficult to additionally install force measuring means into already existing converter plants. The known arrangement with the roller guide has the disadvantage that no area contact, but only a linear contact is present between the bearing housing and the supporting construction, and that the forces which occur are correspondingly strong, whereby the rollers are easily jammed. Consequently, the load acting on the force measuring means is not uniform and the measuring result is falsified. Furthermore, these rollers act only in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the axes of the trunnions. Horizontal forces in all other directions cannot be transmitted by the rollers to the supporting construction.